


What Happens to Trespassers

by nazgularepeopletoo, No_Day_But_Today



Series: Way Down Under [1]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brought To You By Homoerotic Subtext, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Songfic, Sort Of, Thanks Z, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, we were drunk when we wrote this, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 10:57:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19789459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazgularepeopletoo/pseuds/nazgularepeopletoo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/No_Day_But_Today/pseuds/No_Day_But_Today
Summary: "I know I'm a gay disaster but I'm a little surprised there isn't any Hades/Orpheus content" - ZWe aim to please





	What Happens to Trespassers

“Young man.”

Orpheus whipped around to face the voice, startled. His fingers tightened around Eurydice’s wrists, he wasn’t going to lose her again. His eyes found the owner of the voice and his blood ran cold. Hades. 

“I don’t think we’ve met before, you’re not from around here, son. Don’t know who the hell you are, but I can tell you don’t belong”

Hades began to make his way down the spiral staircase, never breaking eye contact with Orpheus. He felt his heartbeat pick up, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Hades stopped at the foot of the stairs, leaning lazily on the banister. 

“These are working people, son. Law abiding citizens. Go back to where you came from, you’re on the wrong side of the fence.”

Hades gestured to the workers milling about around them. Orpheus’ eyes darted around, trying to watch each and every person that began to surround them. For the first time since he’d gotten off the train, he felt like he’d made a mistake. Not a mistake, but that he’d done something wrong without meaning to, something he couldn’t  _ help _ but doing wrong. 

“You hear me, son?”

Orpheus barely heard him by this point, so lost in his thoughts. His head was spinning. So much was happening at once.

“You better run!”

Orpheus’ mouth finally caught up with his brain.

“I’m not goin’ back along, I came to take her home!”

“Who the hell do you think you are? Who the hell do you think you’re talkin’ to? She couldn’t go anywhere, even if she wanted to. You’re not from around here, son. If you were then you would know that everything and everyone in Hadestown I own.” Hades chuckled, glancing down to pick at his nails absently, as if disinterested. “But I only buy what others choose to sell.”

Orpheus stopped. His thoughts stopped, his mouth stopped, his head stopped. What had Hades said? He stared at the god, mouth hanging open slightly. 

“Oh, you didn’t know? She signed the deal herself. And now she -” 

That was when Orpheus finally let go of Eurydice’s hands, whipping around to face her with wide eyes. 

“It isn’t true…”

Hades spoke again, with an almost taunting tone.

“”Belongs to me.”

Orpheus ignored him, his entire mind focused on Euridice.

“It isn’t true… What he said… Eurydice?”

“I did. I do.”

Orpheus could have sworn he felt his heart stop, his worst fears confirmed. He felt panic begin to set in. He can’t take Eurydice home. He can’t go back with her. She can’t leave. He felt himself retreat back into himself, closing himself off from the outside world. 

“As for you - everybody gather round, everybody look and see, what becomes of trespassers with no respect for property!”

The workers had begun to circle him, closing in. Orpheus didn’t notice. Didn’t notice how they’d dropped their tools, focusing on him. Didn’t notice how agitated they’d all become. Didn’t notice until one of them grabbed Eurydice, pulling her out of the circle, blocking her from view. Didn’t notice until it was too late.

Once Eurydice was out of his sight, he snapped back to reality. They can’t take her away, he can’t let them take her away. He spun, turning towards Hades. 

“You… You did this…!” He moved to run, rush towards Hades, make him pay for taking Eurydice away from him. He didn’t make it far, however, the group of workers stopped him, grabbing him up and throwing him roughly to the factory floor. Oprheus lay there for a moment, stunned and breathless. He rolled to his side, moving to stand. He barely made it to his hands and knees before a foot connected with his stomach, knocking the breath from him again. He curled in on himself, cradling his new bruise. He felt a hand grab the collar of his shirt, hoisting him back up to his feet. A fist connected with his face, splitting the skin along his cheek bone and causing him to bite his cheek. He tasted blood. He touched his fingers to his lips, pulling away to see red painting his fingertips. Another fist connected with the back of his head, knocking him out of the other worker’s grasp, sending him sprawling to the ground. He pushed himself up again, only to be sent crashing to the ground with a stomp to the back. Another foot connected with his side, kicking him hard enough to shove his body backwards into the wall of bodies. He didn’t try to get up this time. The next few seconds, minutes, hours - who knows - were filled with pain. Everything blurred together. His vision clouded red with blood, his mouth metallic, his ears ringing. He resigned himself to the beating, resigned himself to fade into darkness. Then a single voice broke through.

“Enough!”

The crowd around Orpheus parted instantly, silence falling. 

“That’s enough! Back to work!” 

Eurydice, tears streaming down her face, pushed through the circle, scrambling to get to Orpheus. She gently rolled him over onto his back, cradling his head.

“Orhpe... you’ll be okay, everything’s gonna be okay…”

Orpheus tried to focus on her face, but he kept seeing double. He hated seeing her upset. He shakily raised up an arm to try to brush away her tears when Hades spoke again.

“Take the girl with you.” 

Eurydice was pulled away from him, screaming and fighting to get back to him.

“Rydice…” He tried to push himself up onto his knees, but by the time he could lift his head she was gone. That was more disorienting than anything else that had happened so far. A hand gripped his shirt and hauled him to his feet.

“All right, son. Up on your feet.” Orpheus tried, but his legs didn’t cooperate. His knees gave out, and he fell to the side, putting a hand out to break the fall he knew was coming. It didn’t. He hit something solid, his arm collapsing under him. 

Hades grunted, instinctually wrapping his arms around the boy that was suddenly leaning against him. Orpheus sagged against him, exhausted and disoriented, trying his hardest not to start crying. Not here, not now. Not when it could be used against him. Hades sighed, feeling the boy shaking in his arms. He wasn’t the best at comfort… but he could at least try.

“Come. You need to lay down.” Hades’ voice was soft and gruff, and he hoped that Orpheus wouldn’t remember what had just happened. 

**. . .**

The dim light felt much brighter than it should have when Orpheus opened his eyes. Every part of his body ached, and he groaned before squeezing his eyes shut again. He raised a weak hand to rub at his face, grimacing at the dried blood that flaked off. Where was he? He remembered Eurydice, being attacked and then-  _ Eurydice, _ Where was  _ she _ ? He sat up and then cried out in pain. He’d moved too fast and a stabbing pain shot through his ribs. He started to fall back, but a large hand caught him, pressing against his shoulder blades. He groaned, letting the hand support his weight. Suddenly, a cold glass was pressed to his lips.

“Here, boy, drink.”

Orpheus drank greedily, the cool water helping to wash the metallic taste of blood from his mouth, wetting his dry, scratchy throat. He practically whined when the glass was pulled away.

“Easy there, son. Too much at once and you’ll get sick.”

Orpheus’ brain was working too slowly. It felt like he was trying to wade through molasses. He knew that voice. He recognized it, but he couldn’t put a name to it. It was deep, almost gravelly at times. Sweet as honey, a soft, southern twang. It felt.. familiar? He blinked his eyes roughly a few times, trying to get used to the soft light in the room. He slowly turned to face the voice, trying to focus his eyes on a single object. 

It was Hades. He didn’t need to have complete focus to realize that. He should have been afraid, or angry, or  _ something _ , but he just felt confused and tired. Something must have happened that had led him here with the god, and he wasn’t about to question it. Questioning fate had never seemed to go well with him. 

“Where am I…?” His voice was quiet, nearly inaudible and dry despite the water he had drunk. Hades was silent for a moment, as if weighing what to say. He set aside the glass and lowered himself gently on to the side of the bed, staring at Orpheus. 

“Don’t worry about that, son, you’re safe here. I won’t let ‘em hurt you again.” 

“But you…”

“Yeah, ‘bout that... “ Hades sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He wasn’t good at this. He’d never been good at this. He didn’t like admitting weakness, didn’t like admitting his mistakes. “I’m sorry, kid… Sometimes… Gods, I’m bad at this… I can’t… I don’t… It’s nothin’ personal. I just, I can’t look… weak… in front of ‘em. Can’t let anyone in that don’t belong, can’t let anyone out. They’d riot and I can’t have that, kid, I just can’t.” 

Orpheus nodded, laying back down, though he didn’t entirely understand. He’d never had control over anything, and his head hurt. 

“I understand,” he said anyway, letting his eyes drift closed. He felt safe and warm, and he just wanted to go back to sleep. A blanket settled over him and he felt the bed shift as Hades stood. He frowned, cracking open one eye against his better judgement.

“Listen, you can stay here ‘till you’re back up on your feet. Least I can do since I got ya into this situation.” Hades turned, heading for the door, when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned back around to find the poet clutching his sleeve as if his life depended on it, big doe eyes shining with tears. 

“Will you… Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

Hades fought back a blush, but then nodded, even when he knew he shouldn’t. He glanced around the room, noticing a chair by the desk. He tried to retrieve it when the grip on his sleeve tightened. He reached over and gently pulled Orpheus’s hand off of his sleeve, gently rubbing the back of his hand with his thumb.

“Don’t worry, I ain’t leavin’ you.” Orpheus tentatively nodded and dropped his hand. Hades crossed the room as quickly as he could, dragging the chair back near the head of the bed and settling in just far enough away that Orpheus could still reach him. If he wanted to, that is. But by the time he’d finally settled in, the boy was already asleep. The boy looked smaller when he was asleep. Hades leaned over and brushed some of the poet’s hair away from his face. Orpheus made a quiet noise, leaning into the touch subconsciously. 

**. . .**

  
  


The second time Oprheus awoke was much more pleasant. This time he was warm, cocooned in soft blankets. The room was still filled with a soft, warm light permeating through the layers of fabric that had ended up covering his face. He pushed them aside, peeking out with a soft whine. Before he was fully awake he heard a snort and jumped, suddenly snapping the rest of the way awake. He was on edge until he glanced to the side of the bed and saw Hades fast asleep in a chair, head tilted down against his chest and arms loosely crossed. Orpheus smiled slightly at the sight. He’d stayed. Just like he asked. The King of the Underworld looked older when he slept, more tired, more run down. The poet decided to let him sleep; he looked like he needed it. 

Orpheus watched the king sleep, drifting in and out of consciousness himself. It was only when Hades let out a particularly loud snore that Orpheus gave an audible laugh, startling the king awake. Hades groaned and rubbed at his eyes, cracking his stiff neck. Orpheus smiled up at him from his pile of blankets.

“Good morning…” He wasn’t sure suddenly what time of day it was, or how long he had even been down there, but Hades didn’t seem to care. 

“Mornin’, kid.”

“How, uh… How’d you sleep?” Hades gave a short laugh before standing up and cracking his back.

“Ever slept in a chair? ‘S not fun.” 

Orpheus frowned, scooting up on the bed.

“You could have taken the other side of the bed. It’s a big bed, you know.” Hades blushed a deep shade of red, unable to even  _ look _ at the other.

“You always this up front?” Orpheus shrugged.

“Yeah, kinda. You can ask Mr. Hermes if you don’t believe me.”

“I believe you, don’t worry about that.” Hades realized he was hovering and took a step back, rubbing a hand along his own upper arm. He once again wasn’t sure what to do. This was turning out to be a lot of firsts for him. Orpheus yawned again, snuggling back under the covers. 

“Come on, just get in the bed. You need the sleep more than I do…” Hades sighed and conceited defeat. He slowly climbed onto the other side of the bed, careful not to touch Orpheus.

“You’re mighty persistent, you know that?” Oprheus hummed noncommittally and immediately snuggled into Hades’ side. Hades squeaked, almost jumping, but catching himself before he could hurt Orpheus again. “I wasn’t… ‘r you gonna be okay?” The boy nodded again, snuggling closer and under the god’s arm, already half asleep.

Hades hesitantly tightened his arm around the poet, leaning down to rest his cheek against the crown of his head. He hadn’t snuggled with anyone in a long time, and it felt… nice… to be wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> Our running title for this fic was "Homoerotic Subtext: Papers (Intro) Edition


End file.
